Thursday, October 23, 2014

I Dodged a Rocket and Survived to Talk About It!

After catching the The Judge for the second time in theaters today, I was satisfied that I didn't spend my precious Diwali afternoon watching Happy New Year. The Judge is the best movie of 2014 so far in the drama genre, in my opinion, and I suggest you all to see it.

Anyway, after dropping my friend at her place, I was driving my bike back to mine. The well-lit streets and the overall festive mood ( people wearing ethnic everywhere I could see, more crowd in the sweet shops than anywhere else , crackers , crackers everywhere!) gave a near-perfect picture of a well-commercialized Diwali eve. Although for people like me who have stayed in Jaipur/Delhi for years, Hyderabad would feel a little mellowed down, but hey, as long as you are able to celebrate, there's nothing to complain or feel bad about!

I navigated through the empty lanes that would usually be full of people during office hours. It seemed to be the Puja time as everyone seemed to be finishing up the religious aspect of Diwali in a hurry , before they head out and unleash the fireworks that they have in store. I drove on and I realized that I had no cash on me .I decided to hit the nearest ATM. I took a left and as I proceeded towards the ATM , a wave of lined red crackers greeted me . Yes they were set off while I crossed them , and briefly I enjoyed my action hero moment. Instead of being mad at the kids who were behind this, a stupid grin surfaced on my lips. Because I recalled how I used to do the same when I was one of them, when people on vehicles would pass by our streets!

After I was done with the cash withdrawal, I turned my bike to the same lane. Time to head home and celebrate a quieter Diwali, I thought as I sighed and fired up the engine. This time I was careful not head right into the firecrackers and I waited for them to finish one round. Meanwhile, my ears were getting used to the constant bursting noises in the background, as my eyes feasted on the colors that flew up in the air, making different patterns, beautiful duel of light and sound everywhere, as the city seemed to be well-soaked in the spirit of the festival.

Once they were done, I drove past those grinning kids, and while I did so , I did notice that unknown to one of them , there was a stash of 'rockets' lying nearby. And to top that, this boy was having an electric wire fired up and held in his fist, whose sparks where falling pretty close to the rocket-stash. Before I could warn them or do something about it , saw that one spark fell and ignited some of the rockets, as I honked to drive their attention towards the disastrous firework that was about to unfold.

The kids, on seeing that , ran inside their gates. And as I started to move with my bike on full throttle , I heard a rocket move past me! It just made a really loud whistling sound and with some heat, it passed by my ears as I barely managed to dodge it! For a while I went white and as I came back, my instincts made me flee as I left the scene and rushed to my residency in full speed.

Quite an adventure I had on a Diwali eve, after a long, long time. And hey , to those who are reading this, I mean it , have a safe and a happy Diwali , very necessarily in that order!